1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method, system, and computer-readable medium for managing of a collaborative deal transaction that provides for tracking and managing signature pages of a deal transaction using a taxonomy that is displayable by a computing device.
2. Description of Related Art
Many aspects of corporate finance strategy and management, whether it be mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, insolvency, corporate restructuring, joint ventures, or closing deals, require document intensive agreements, as well as a multiplicity of other documents required by the due diligence process, and related contracts during these types of business transactions.
Historically, physical data rooms have been used during the course of these types of document intensive transactions. This type of traditional data room is literally a physically secure room that houses the copious transactional documents in boxes or file folders. The physical data room usually receives continual monitoring, and is located in the office of a host vendor, solicitor, or law firm. During the closing process, members of the various parties must visit the physical data room to inspect and report on the various documents housed therein. Often only one individual at a time is permitted entry to the physical data room, and if new documents or different versions of existing documents are required, a hardcopy is hand delivered to the physical data room via courier. Teams involved in large transactions are normally flown to the city in which the physical data room resides, so that the various team members and experts are available “on-call” throughout the transactional process. The use of a physical data room during a deal transaction obviously requires a large expenditure of time and resources from all parties involved.
Recently, virtual data rooms have been gaining popularity as an alternate means for storing the documents of a deal transaction. A conventional virtual data room (VDR) is essentially a secure Internet website where the deal documents are uploaded and stored. VDR's allows security permissions to different users, according to their particular role in the deal, much like a security guard in the physical data room. VDR's afford a means to provide access to the necessary documents that can be accessed via the Internet, and obviates many of the costs associated with using a physical data room for storing the plethora of documents required for a deal transaction. However, conventional VDR's do not provide an adequate and/or efficient means to track and/or manage the status of various documents throughout the duration of the deal transaction.